Steve Webb
Game 47, 5/17/2024: Dodgers 7, Reds 3
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — After going two straight games with no extra base hits, the Dodgers made darn sure it wasn’t going to be a three-peat. The Dodgers got three home runs on Friday night, and pulled away from the Cincinnati Reds late in the game to break their two-game slide by a score of 7-3.
After starter James Paxton twirled a quick and scoreless top of the first, Mookie Betts dug in for the first at-bat for the home squad. Betts saw something he liked quickly and on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, he drilled a Frankie Montas splitter over the left field fence to get the Dodgers on the board.
Then, in the next time around the batting order, it was Shohei Ohtani‘s turn to call on Dr. Longball. With Betts on first, Ohtani, who has a history of bashing Montas around the yard, came up eager to make good on LA’s first official Shohei Ohtani Day. He pounced on a first pitch fastball to go the opposite way. The ball landed among the paying customers in the stands, and the Dodgers were up 3-0.
However, the Reds slowly worked their way back into the game. They touched up Paxton for a single run in the fourth, and then got solo shots from Stuart Fairchild and Tyler Stephenson in the next two innings to knot the score at three. Paxton lasted into the seventh, but after he gave up a leadoff single to Mike Ford, he was lifted in favor of righty Michael Grove, who did Paxton a solid by picking off the runner and putting up a zero.
That gave the Dodgers their opportunity for a comeback in the bottom of the seventh. Enrique Hernandez led off the frame by banging a single into centerfield off reliever Fernando Cruz. And then the Reds showed why they are a very young team. After a Betts strikeout, Shohei Ohtani hit a groundball up the middle. Phenom Elly De La Cruz got the out at second, but thought his cannon arm was enough to get a double play. He threw wildly to first, and the ball ended up in the camera well, giving Ohtani a free pass to second.
With a runner now in scoring position, the dynamic of the rest of the inning changed completely. The Reds were forced to walk Freddie Freeman to get to a righty righty matchup against Will Smith. But Smith made the Reds pay for their move. He ripped a solid single into center that scored Ohtani and put the Dodgers up for good. Freeman would come around to score on a wild pitch and the inning ended with the Dodgers up 5-3.
Jason Heyward, playing in his first came in over a month, decided to announce his return in the loudest way possible with a screaming two-run home run down the right field line. That made the score 7-3 and there the score stayed for the rest of the evening. Blake Treinen kept the filth coming in the eighth, and Daniel Hudson pitched a scoreless ninth to secure the victory.
After two lackluster games, this one felt good.
The Dodgers are back in action on Saturday, locking horns with the Reds in the third of this four-game set. Walker Buehler looks to continue his progress as he works his way back to fighting form in this one. He’ll toe the rubber for the third time this season. Across from him in the scorebook will be righty Graham Ashcroft (3-2, 4.12 ERA). See you at the ballpark!
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